ABOUT US

New World Prints began with a passion for the works of 19th and 20th century Mexican master engravers Jose Guadalupe Posada and Manuel Manilla who worked for the Mexico City based printing house of Antonio Vanegas Arroyo. Years of painstaking research and collecting ultimately lead to the formation of what may by the most comprehensive privately held collection of artistic work generated by Posada and Manilla.

Dominated by materials originating from the Antonio Vanegas Arroyo printing house, the collection contains thousands of items representing a wide range of broadsides, bulletins, gazettes, chapbooks, printed editions and ephemera highlighted by an extensive assemblage of over two hundred original wood cuts, acid etchings and type-metal blocks. Subject matter contained in the works spans roughly a thirty year period from 1895 through 1925 and is organized into five general categories: religion, politics and history, crimes and disasters, popular themes and the calaveras.

In addition to its artistic importance, the collection documents Mexico’s history including the years leading up to the Mexican Revolution and into the early years after its conclusion. Throughout this period and later in the 20th Century the printing house of Antonio Vanegas Arroyo reported news and influenced public opinion. The traditions of the printing house were later carried on by Don Antonio’s son Blas and late grandson Arsacio. The descendant family of Antonio Vanegas Arroyo provided help by opening the doors of their print shop and archives. Material provided by them gave us the opportunity to accrete valuable pieces to the collection.

In 2003, New World Prints was invited to exhibit selected materials from its collection as a part of the Oakland Museum of California’s “Global Elegies: Art and Ofrendas for the Dead” exhibition. To better display the artwork, a series of prints were pulled from original Posada and Manilla engravings by Trillium Press master printer Philip Sanders. The exquisite prints resulting from this collaboration with Trillium and Mr. Sanders brought new life to the timeless art and mastery of Posada and Manilla’s work. Inquires about the new prints of the collection were so positive that we began to formulate a plan to produce limited editions from the original engravings of selected works. Documentary Film!

This web site is our response to those inquires and represents our first step toward making our preservation efforts, including the eternal artistry of Jose Guadalupe Posada, available to an ever-increasing worldwide audience.